Red-breasted Sapsuckers---drilling and waiting for dinner

Woodpeckers have always been the most interesting species of bird to me. Ever since growing up on a large Oregon family farm in the Willamette Valley I remember the excitement in seeing them in the forest around our lake, or seeing Pileated woodpeckers in our apple orchard. Locally here in the Snoqualmie Valley we are blessed with no fewer than five species of woodpeckers in the surrounding open mixed forests. One which leads a more quiet life happens to be nearly my favorite---the red-breasted sapsucker.
These beautiful birds have red heads and breasts and can be confused for no other species of woodpecker in our region (the red-headed woodpecker is an eastern US species). They also have virtually no noticeable differences in appearance between the male and female (very unlike the common hairy and downy woodpeckers that are common around here). Dense mixed and conifer forests typical of western Washington are a favorite home for them---sounds a lot like our surrounds here indeed! They get their name “sapsucker” from the foraging behavior which they follow. This consists of drilling orderly horizontal rows of holes into tree trunks and then returning to those holes later to feed on the running sap and the insects attracted to it. Very different than most woodpeckers, they forage in healthy trees and it is actually possible to kill a young tree if they drill too many sap-holes around its trunk. This, however, is quite uncommon and shouldn’t be something to worry about. Most if not all western red cedar trees that you see in a healthy forest will have thousands of these holes ringing the trees! You won’t find them dying anytime too soon from it either. Even a small flowering cherry tree in our immediate yard has become a favorite drilling/foraging zone for a resident bird on our property. This tree sap is the main food of red-breasted sapsuckers. They also eat some insects and fruit. They will enjoy more insects during the nesting season and they primarily will feed insects to their young.

These busy birds are very resident neighbors and don’t move around much nor migrate. They are common in the lowlands of Western Washington even in winter. However, if the weather turns cold enough for sap to freeze, they may move out to the outer coast to find food.
Lastly, they are considered a “keystone” species. This is significant because it means that many other species use the sap wells they drill. So the next time you hear a polite hidden “tapping” sound going on and on in a cedar tree nearby take the time to look more closely. You might find one happily showing you that your home is a healthy part of the ecosystem as well!

Northern Alligator Lizard: We have lizards in Western Washington? You’re kidding, right?

I so clearly remember the afternoon about 20 years ago, working in my yard. I was rummaging around some old rotting logs that were mixed in under a thick growth of salal when suddenly something quickly moved and stopped. I immediately of course assume “oh, yet another garter snake”. But then I looked more closely: what WAS this thing!? I was thinking “salamander” but no, it sure wasn’t that either. After getting photographs developed (yes, this was WAY back in ancient times of only shooting with film!) I finally figured out that we have lizards around our neck of the woods! Yes, the Northern Alligator Lizard is a remarkable reptile that is fairly common but usually hidden from view.
The Northern Alligator Lizard ranges up to 13 inches in length. However all of the specimens I’ve witnessed over the past 20 years have been in the 7-8 inch range. This alligator lizard species prefers our cool shady forests. They range from the southern portions of British Columbia down through the Pacific Northwest. One thing that makes the Northern species stand out from others is that they give birth to live young. The Southern Alligator Lizard and most others lay eggs. Northern Alligator Lizards are found in cooler and wetter environments than most any other species of lizard. They are often found in forest clearings or edges, under logs and other surface debris. They can also be found in talus slopes that are associated with forests. And what an amazing banquet of foods they eat. They feed on a wide range of little critters such as insects, ticks, spiders, millipedes, and snails. Thus I’m a very huge fan of these amazing creatures if they eat ticks---one of the few things on this earth that I completely detest!
Able to reproduce each year, they have anywhere from one to eight young. I was surprised to learn that they have a life expectancy of up to eight years. You may not have ever seen them before, but it isn’t likely due to your not paying attention. They make extensive use of cover such as rocks, logs, and shrubs. But they don’t go far either. Most individuals are site faithful, remaining in the same area (within a 100 foot radius) for three consecutive years. I was greatly humored over one last fact about them which was news to me: lizards with shorter tails have slower sprint speeds. I’m still trying to find out more detailed information to know WHY this is the case, but it was fascinating nonetheless.
So get outside this summer and kick some rocks and logs around a bit. Snoop around in some dark corners of your property if you border forested areas. You just might be able to startle yourselves and see these hidden creatures of our unknown world! But if you so choose to please handle them very carefully, if at all. Alligator lizards have a tail that easily breaks off and they also have strong enough jaws to give a serious bite!

Flashback Photo of the Day: 03/14/2005 at Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Flashback Photo of the Day: 03/14/2005 - I've been sad with the thought that my parents didn't make it to Arizona this winter. So it is a pleasure reflecting back to my very first Arizona visit to see them six years ago and sharing sunset with them in Saguaro National Park. What a sunset we had on Signal Hill overlooking the forest of Saguaro across the valley.

It is hard to imagine that after this spectacular

early evening calm sunset, we drove back north to the Phoenix area in a huge sand/dust storm on I-10 that reduced visibility at night down to maybe 100' at most! I can see how terrible things can happen driving in those conditions. (all photos from the western unit of Saguaro National Park, Arizona)

Man's best friend and Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is special for most people, and for me it takes on even a more special meaning. That is, I am so happy to yet again have Valentine’s Day to also give special time to my wonderful birthday-pooch-border-collie-I’m-smartest-in-the-household wonder pup (b. Feb 14, 2002!!) and let her know how much she has meant to my life the past nine years. I took her on a short special birthday hike yesterday, wet and sloppy, and a big thank you to her for making this dog-loving guy feel so special too! Happy Birthday! (last photo: May 2002 and the little fur ball of energy and love!)

A "Different" Kind of Robin - the Varied Thrush

There is a special call from nature in winter in the lowland hills around the Snoqualmie Valley that is one of the top five favorite sounds of nature to me. I love the Pacific tree-frogs calling in spring; I love the sound of Pileated woodpeckers. But the winter arrival call of the Varied Thrush is just so special, I can’t ignore it!
The Varied Thrush can best be described as being close to looking like the size of an American Robin. However it is smaller and much more striking in appearance. They display a lovely bright orange wing bar, an amazing orange throat area, black bar along the head by the eyes, and a bright orange under-part belly. The female birds are still brilliant but the orange is more subdued. A breeder of the Pacific Northwest and areas northward toward Alaska, it really is a mystery bird to many, one that lives out its life in the dark deep coniferous forests. But winter in the Cascades brings it to the lowland forest fringes and here we find it in our own yard like many forested foothill communities!
What makes it so easy to locate sightings of them in winter here is that they are ground foragers primarily, so if you feed birds in your yard or on your property, they are very likely to find the area on the ground around feeding stations as winter territory to claim. The males do tend to dominate many other bird feeder species and claim small territories around feeding areas, so if you have multiple thrushes around it can be quite a show! Along with the seeds they find, they also feed heavily on any types of ground insects that can be found. Summertime in the mountains they are up high in the trees nesting and it can be far more difficult to spot them. Oh, but for that special voice they have, it is a dead give-away of their presence! It can best be described as a strong single note/pitch of a “whistle” call – almost to me sounding like a referee at a basketball game, starting weak and getting strong quickly! This is what makes these birds one of my favorite winter creatures to have as a natural neighbor, and I encourage you to find a voice call recording on the internet to enjoy if you don’t know what I mean (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/200/_/Varied_Thrush.aspx is one of many). Ahh…can you hear it? I hope you see these around the fringes of the Valley, and that you keep me posted on what you are seeing (or hearing) out there!

Flashback Photo of the Day: 01/22/2008 - Crossing the road to nowhere?

Flashback Photo of the Day: 01/22/2008 – After I had been photographing the amazing ice jam details in the Yakima River for almost 45 minutes in the -2* temperatures I headed back along the river/road area to where I had left my truck parked off the road. It was crossing the road here to get back into the truck that the view right on up the road in the Yakima Canyon seemed so surreal to me. I kept on walking, got in the truck, and then realized I had another photo I wanted. This was the image I shot…after letting a passing farm truck of hay pass by first of course! But traffic is light in the canyon on cold January mornings.

Flashback Photo of the Day: 01/22/2008 - Returning early morning from a previous night's presentation in Yakima I headed back to Ellensburg like usual via Canyon Road through the Yakima Canyon. Extremely cold weather the previous week had left miles of massive ice jams on the scenic Yakima River offering me photographic opportunities never seen before in this, my favorite canyon drive in Washington State! (second photo: remaining ice after the warm-up broke up the river - this ice was pushed up high on river banks )

Remembering my most dramatic sunrise

Flashback Photo of the Day: 12/30/2003 – Another winter highlight and likely still the most dramatic sunrise I’ve ever photographed. I have my early-rising daughter to thank for even having a chance to see this across Case Inlet in the South Puget Sound, a sunrise shadow of Mount Rainier being cast UNDER the clouds which were on fire at the moment. The crater flat top of The Mountain is even visible in the shadow being cast!

The shadowing effect lasted about three minutes total, which was simply a stellar day in my life to remember and I'm so fortunate I was able to photograph it to not forget how dramatic it really was!

First photo of the year

So today I woke up and after not having as much photography in 2010 behind me, looked to use his camera at least once on today, the first day of 2011. Result of my first photograph taken in 2011 this morning....a lovely native Douglas Squirrel enjoying some seeds in early sun to warm up in after an 18° night. A great way to start off a year seeing a creature appear so happy in the territory we share!

Brown Pelicans delight on the Oregon Coast

I've long enjoyed seeing the large numbers of Brown Pelicans that call the area on the North Oregon Coast/South Washington Coast home in the summer/early fall. Watching them from areas south of the Columbia River has always been just so fun - they are such fascinating birds! A recent trip down to the areas between Newport and Astoria led me to use the crummy weather I was presented to change my photograph direction away from sunsets and lighthouses and look for pelicans worthy to photograph (or anything else that could cheer me up in the dreary weather!).

One nice place I found was the huge haystack right off Yaquina Head from the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Early in the morning they were large numbers resting there. Finally by 8:00am the gated road was open and I was out there - imagine being the ONLY person at the Yaquina Lighthouse for 45 minutes! That was me, and on a Saturday morning to boot.

But the best location I stumbled upon was further north a bit at Devil's Punchbowl State Park. Sure the punchbowl is fun, but just taking the short path 100 yards to the south and you are greeted with a beautiful cliff band/haystack right there very close to your vantage point. Lo-and-behold, there were 15-20 Brown Pelicans hanging out here as well! This was a great location to photograph and offered nice opportunities to capture them flying as well when they came in for a landing on the rock. Upon getting back to the truck I had to tell the cold looking elderly couple who were at the punchbowl to please be sure to go see the pelicans. They came back while I was putting my gear away and were so excited they almost hugged me in thanks for passing on "my tip". How fun is that!?

Return of the Bald Eagles

The holiday season has once again almost returned, bringing with it our annual season of joy, sharing, and hopeful happiness (What? Is it really November already!?). But while we all are busy with our holiday preparations, another visitor once again silently prepares to return to our neighborhood. This wintering natural neighbor is none other than our spectacular Bald Eagle as they typically make their annual winter visit from November through early March (some yearlong residents do live and nest locally as well, but many are only winter visitors).

Local winter populations of eagles do not compare to those present at river areas to the north, such as the Skagit, Sauk, and Stillaguamish Rivers. However, we do have many local hotspots, which often provide excellent viewing opportunities. In the heart of Fall City you can often spot these huge birds in the towering cottonwood trees near the confluence of the Raging and Snoqualmie Rivers. I’ve seen as many as four at once just across the river from town! They fish the Raging River often and I’m always keeping an eye open along the Preston-Fall City Road at each bend in the river. If you fail to see any in these locations, roam up to Borst Lake along Mill Pond Road out of Snoqualmie, or take the West Snoqualmie Valley Road to Carnation. Areas north of Carnation near Sikes Lake and along the river near Carnation Farm Road all offer excellent opportunities to see these magnificent birds!

The lives of Bald Eagles are fascinating, and one of the most amazing things about them to me is their nesting practice. Bald Eagles build the largest nests in the world that are made by a single pair of birds. Some nests weigh over a thousand pounds and the largest nests have been known to be up to 12 feet deep! They lay on average only two eggs in the nest and only 10% of all newborns will survive until adulthood. Adulthood is reached at age five when they finally develop the spectacular white heads we all recognize so quickly. What is so interesting to me is that their nests, once established, are used perennially by mating pairs of birds, and have been known to be used for up to 35 years!

Each eagle sighting I have becomes a memory that lingers with me for a long time. Whether it is a pair of them circling over the Snoqualmie River or a single bird perched in a large cottonwood tree, it keeps a smile in my mind for days. So keep your eyes open wherever you go around the valley this winter. You never know when you might spot our flying national symbol!

Eeeek! Peeeep! Just who is that screaming from the mountain rocks?

They are elusive to see some of the time, but equally as up close and curious to be checking you out the next. One moment they are silent, the next they utter an amazing “Eeeek!” type of panic call and dash away to hide! These curious little fury creatures don’t live here in the lowlands. But anyone who has ventured up into the Cascades where high elevation open rocky slopes dot the landscape knows what I mean. The pika is a fascinating little mammal and survives in one of the harshest environments around us!
The pika is a small, industrious mammal that lives in our mountain regions, typically inhabiting the boulder-covered hillsides and rock-piles (aka talus) near timberline. Talus might seem like an inhospitable environment to us as we find it difficult and dangerous to traverse. But pikas can use the talus to escape predators and nasty weather. Under the surface is a labyrinth of pika-sized caves and passages. Still air trapped between the rocks, combined with a layer of snow over the surface, can insulate pikas from sub-zero temperatures and wind chill! Pikas lack the large hind legs that allow hares and rabbits to outrun some predators. But in talus, they can outmaneuver most predators!

They also are called "rock rabbits" by some. The 8-inch long, 7-ounce pika spends the summer busily cutting, gathering and drying leaves and grasses. It eats a variety of green plants like grasses, sedges, thistles, and fireweed. Some it will eat on the spot while some of it will be carried away and stored in a pile or "haystack." A pika haystack can contain as much as a bushel of plants! The pika will often move the pile to protect it from rain or to find a better drying spot. After the vegetation dries the pika will move it to its den deep in the rocks. The dried plants are then stored for use as a food source during the long high-altitude winters. They do not hibernate even in these harsh long snowy periods and thus have these food stores they worked all summer long to build to survive off of! When their food source starts to run low they will also supplement their needs by foraging on whatever is available under the snow, such as bark and lichen. A relative of the rabbit and hare, the pika is the size and shape of a guinea pig with a stocky, grayish-brown body. It has short legs, round ears, a tiny virtually invisible tail, and sharp curved claws. It is very alert and has excellent hearing and vision which helps protect it from predators like coyotes, weasels, martens and hawks. They emit a sharp, high-pitched whistle to alert other nearby pikas when predators are detected. Therefore they may well see the approach of a human as a similar threat and sound the alarms!
Females usually bear one or two litters, with two to four young in each. When the young are born, they have no hair and are blind. But within a short time they grow rapidly and are able to open their eyes. Amazing as it may sound, the babies will leave their mother after four weeks and are adult size in about three months. Pikas usually live for about four to seven years, which I find fascinating for such a small creature in the wild! So give them you attention the next time you see or hear one---they live in an amazing world of their own!

Full moon rises over the waters last month

With a late-August start to school quickly approaching we had a chance for one last getaway before our daily routines would suddenly be altered. Lucky for us it was full moon time for the month of August and seeing clear sky with full moon rising across Case Inlet was a great send-off to summer break.

It is a rare treat when we get both clear sky and smooth water to enjoy this.

Now it's time to prepare for a hopeful repeat of 5-6 years ago in November and again in February when sunrise happens directly behind Mount Rainier.

I've only seen that once - why is it always cloudy in November and February when we get out there? Oh, never mind :)

A vacation tour with five birds in the fishing world

What an "interesting" year 2010 has been and after much lengthy silence I am finally getting my schedule and activities sort of "back to normal". Far too many serious family health issues to handle in one year, not to mention in just the past few months since spring!

Kicking off August was really nice as I enjoyed an annual trip to a family cabin on a lake in far Northeast Washington near the Idaho border, up north of Spokane. Eight full days with family and two dogs was just what I needed. Fishing was great as well, even if I lost the 2010 Annual Fishing Derby between the Bauer Pa vs. Bauer Son 8-3.

At least I caught the longest trout! But we weren’t the only creatures fishing the lake. Indeed, I enjoyed watching and photographing five bird species who were working the lake constantly just like all summers!

The occasional Great Blue Heron shouldn’t surprise anyone. Double-crested Cormorants were a bit of a new one on the lake for me, even after 22 years of visiting it every summer. A pair of Belted Kingfishers were eagerly working the waters of the bay every morning. But the stars of the show annually are the Ospreys nesting on the lake as well as numerous families of Red-necked Grebes! It is a challenge to photograph the ospreys but they are so active you just have to wait for a fly-over or be lucky to have a dead snag on your property they use to perch and hunt from.

The grebes, well they are busy out in the water 24 hours a day. So this year again I kayaked out into the lake as approaching them from the water is very easy on them and allowed me many chances to photograph their behaviors with the ½ grown young! It was very enjoyable…one youth was so vocal all of the time while the adult near it seemed to care less! And guess what…every one of these five bird species humiliated us Bauer Boys in our fishing abilities! It was stunning to be in a kayak and watch what it looked like seeing a red-necked grebe swimming underwater. That was a new sight for me and one I’ll not forget soon!

An annual trek to get my wildflower craving satisfied with Tweedy’s lewisia

Each year it is the same thing over and over. Come spring I get all antsy about starting to head out with viewing wildflowers as the main objective. What a great way to see nature putting on a show as well as offering unlimited photographic opportunities! Once I’ve had my share of shrub steppe region visits (aka. “Washington’s desert”) my attention focuses immediately to the dry east slopes of the Cascades. The open pine-fir mix forests where warm sun, rocky well-drained soils exist are prime habitat for some of the most stunning and rare wildflowers in Washington and it is here where I annually roam special areas to enjoy my most favorite Washington wildflower: Tweedy’s lewisia!

The flowers are up to 3-inches across and are a beautiful salmon to yellowish-pink in color. I think it is by far the most showy lewisia, as well as most beautiful wildflower in the Pacific Northwest! A close relative flower, known as Bitterroot, is much more widespread and easier to locate. (Bitterroot too is a spectacular wildflower – it is smaller and more pink in color, so don’t miss looking for it as well!) Tweedy’s lewisia blooms from May to July depending on what elevation you can find it at, and it does have a very limited geographic range where it is typically found. It is essentially limited to the Wenatchee Mountains, Chelan and Kittitas Counties, and a few areas in the Methow Valley.

While I’m sure it is present in other similar areas, I have my own “guaranteed success” trails where I repeatedly return to in June to have my annual craving to see them satisfied. Lower elevation locations such as the Chiwaukum Creek Trail and Tumwater Botanical Area region, both west of Leavenworth, are on the list for earlier bloom times since they are barely at 2000’ elevation. The photos seen here were taken on June 12th of this year but most years they will be in bloom in late-May here. A contrast to this location is hiking the Tronson Ridge Trail on the northeast side of US-97 near Blewett Pass. Here hiking along a stunning ridge at 5000’ you can readily find clumps of Tweedy’s lewisia typically a few weeks later than lower elevations. What fun! If you ever wish to get more information about finding these locations I’m happy to share exact details with you. I hope you have a chance to get out and see some of nature’s wildflower performances this summer, even if it is just while sitting in a car in a parking lot at Mount Rainier or along a mountain stream!

Dip, Dip, Dip! American Dippers know how to jig!

You might enjoy the beauty of moss covered boulders, the towering forest canopy, or the sound of the babbling water when you stroll along a refreshing creek or river nearby. Stop, look, and listen. Isn’t it beautiful sight and sound? But suddenly you see movement of a small gray flying object and hear peeping noises zoom up the creek to break your train of thought. The movement stops on a rock, and then the show can begin. You’re ready to watch the unique antics of an American dipper!

The American dippers also are often called “water ouzels” by many people. These smallish songbirds (yes, they do have a very pretty call!) are about seven inches long and have a very short tail. They are an even gray colored bird and their names come from the behavior seen when they are closely approached or maybe disturbed by another creature. This “dipping” is the act of them quickly bending their legs so that their entire body quickly moves up and down. But I feel that the best part of their show comes when they are feeding. They are very well adapted to dive underwater---and good thing since their main source of food is aquatic insects! They aren’t like ducks as they don’t have webbed feet. However they can swim across water by paddling their feet and they can propel under the water with a “swimming-style” of motion of their wings. The really cool thing in their biology is how they have nasal flaps which keep water from entering their noses. I wish I could do that! Once their heads are underwater they simply go about their business of eating the buffet of insect larvae (mayflies, stoneflies, etc…) that await them. While they have predators such as sharp-shinned hawks and weasels, their nests are much protected from them. Nest locations are normally within the spray of the water and often are hidden back in behind a small waterfall or large rapid. It is a thrill seeing one dart into a waterfall and not come back out! They often re-use the same nest year to year and they are very territorial. It has been seen where a dipper will defend over half mile of stream.

While it is easy to think of these creatures as mountain dwellers in the vast network of creeks and rivers of the Cascades, they actually are happy in lowland areas as well. I’ve seen them at the confluence of the three forks of the Snoqualmie River above the falls. It is typical to locate them in places such as Tokul Creek and the Raging River. I’ve even seen them in an area surrounded by development as they thrive along Coal Creek below Coal Creek Falls in Cougar Mountain Regional Park. Healthy streams are necessary for them to survive. Without them, the insects they depend on will not flourish. So enjoy your opportunities to locate this special bird species---they will give you a free show and also let you know the healthy state of the water is worth cheering for as well!

A flowery day along Ingalls Creek

I used to make an annual May trip to hike the Ingalls Creek Trail. I remember the wildflowers to be one of the best shows I could find in the Cascades early in the year. As the long wilderness valley climbs from 2000' toward 4000' it allows you to see flowers of all seasons. When balsamroot and lupines are blooming in late May at the lower elevations, you reach far into the valley and find Glacier Lilies, Western Trillium, and many other early blooming species where spring is just waking up. And all of this along the thundering roar of Ingalls Creek which drains massive mountain ranges on both the north and south sides. Birds fill the trees along the valley bottom, but you can't hear them - the creek is too loud! But pausing and watching for a moment reveals all of the grosbeaks, tanagers, chickadees, and the list goes on. But the real show is at your feet.

(above: Glacier lily; flowering Kinnickinick; Hooker fairy-bells; Fern-leaf desert parsley; False Solomon seal)

For whatever reason, I had not hiked this trail for likely 12-13 years after having hiked it annually for at least five years in a row. A recent return visit, hiking 5+ miles up the valley, has me now knowing I'll never let that happen again! What a show...flowering serviceberry and chokecherry bushes/trees, deerbrush ready to blow out its fragrant flowers, lupines, red and yellow paintbrush (yellow ones I sure don't see very often around here), arrowleaf balsamroot, prairie-star flower, hooker's fairy bells, calypso orchids, larkspur, western trillium, glacier lilies, false solomon seal, vanilla leaf, three species of desert parsley including lovely areas of fern-leaf desert parsley, yellow violets, and more...all blooming at once! It was a fiesta of color and fragrance. Oh, and a brief hailshower, some rain, and one lovely female common merganser flying up the creek, all made for a wonderful day with a friend.

(above: Ballhead waterleaf; Ingalls Creek at creek-side and a fun rock art by previous bored hikers :) )

It has been a long cold spring, but even nature will push through and let spring and summer get here eventually!